Abstract
Drawing on 12 case studies across ten countries of how trade unions and collective-bargaining institutions supported frontline workers in health, social care and food retail, this article finds that pre-existing or new collective bargaining or social dialogue forums provided important avenues for employee voice on pandemic management. Trade unions also supported marginalised frontline workers through multiple tactics, though most initiatives predated the pandemic and often depended upon gaining active state support which was not always possible. Trade unions were thus pursuing sword-of-justice objectives, though they were sometimes less open to revaluing frontline work already covered by collectively-negotiated grading structures.
